Fuel dispensers are often controlled by a dispenser controller operated by a store clerk located in a building where other items are available for sale. The dispenser controller has a wire connection to the dispensers for transferring data signals for controlling and monitoring the dispensing process. The controller sends command signals to the dispensers including price per gallon of the fuel to be dispensed, preset limits of fuel to be dispensed, and pump authorization. The dispensers, in turn, send response signals to the controller including pump number, pump status, and dispensed fuel volume and value.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,943 issued to Walter E. Warn, and assigned to Progressive International Electronics, relates to a fuel pump control card which is a dispenser control device inserted in an expansion slot of a PC for controlling electronic dispensers. Electronic dispensers have a built-in processor for calculating and displaying the volume and dollar value of the fuel dispensed. A microprocessor on the fuel pump control card communicates with the processor in the dispenser for controlling the dispensers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,336 issued to Walter E. Warn and Fred K. Carr, and assigned to Progressive International Electronics, relates to a fuel dispenser-cash register control console for simultaneously controlling fuel dispensers and the input key switches on a cash register keyboard such that certain sales information on the dispensing process can be transferred to the cash register. This system includes a printed circuit board with processor which is installed in the cash register and connected to the register key control board. When the processor receives sales information from the console, it locks out the cash register keyboard, transfers the information, and then unlocks the keyboard.
There are advantages to down-loading fuel sales at the end of the fueling transaction into a cash register or Point-of-Sales system. When an attendant reads sales information from a control console and transfers it to a cash register, he may mis-key the information or intentionally enter false information. Automatically down-loading sales information from the dispenser controller to the cash register prevents this.
In brief, the present invention provides for a fuel dispenser-cash register control console which rings fuel transactions into a cash register when the sale is paid out on the console. The microprocessor MP in the console is serially connected to the MP in the cash register. When the sale is paid out on the console, it sends a character string to the cash register which mimics an entry by an attendant on the keyboard of the cash register. The amount of the fuel sale is posted in a designed department the same as if the attendant had entered the dollar amount of the transaction and the department number on the register keyboard.
While the present invention has some features similar to the device and method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,394,336, it provides several improvements. Mainly with the present invention, a second circuit board does not have to be installed in the cash register for taking control of the keyboard. With the present invention, commands containing sales information are transferred directly from the MP in the console to the MP in the register.